{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T21:52:29Z","timestamp":1791237149361,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":63,"publisher":"American Society of Parasitologists","issue":"3","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Journal of Parasitology"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Climate projections for the Southwestern United States predict increases in temperature, drought intensity and frequency, and wildfire intensity and frequency. Such climatic change is expected to impact communities and species of the region, including Crotalus atrox (western diamond-backed rattlesnake) and its helminth communities. We hypothesized that C. atrox in New Mexico has experienced measurable changes in body size, diet composition, and helminth communities over the past century. We examined specimens of C. atrox from 3 time periods: 1947\u20131960 (1950s, n = 34), 1980\u20131990 (1980s, n = 53), and 2011\u20132021 (2010s, n = 57). We dissected specimens of C. atrox and recorded snout-vent length (SVL), sex, age class (juvenile or adult), prey items from gastrointestinal (GI) contents, and helminth prevalence. We then tested for differences in body size, diet, and helminth prevalence between sexes of C. atrox and across time periods. To better understand the environmental breadth of the helminths in C. atrox, we also performed a literature search to reconstruct in what coarse-scale habitat conditions the helminths identified in our study have previously been reported. Over the 3 time periods we studied, body size and diet composition have remained stable; however, helminth community composition appears to have shifted significantly. Kalicephalus inermis, Mesocestoides sp., and a nematode in the family Pharyngodonidae were recovered from snakes from the 1950s, followed by Hexametra boddaertii, Mesocestoides sp. and Oochoristica osheroffi from the 1980s. Finally, only O. osheroffi was recovered from snakes from the 2010s. We also found that O. osheroffi appears to tolerate areas that often lack reliable moisture levels. We suggest 3 hypotheses explaining the observed shift in helminth community composition: changes to climate, undetected changes in the diet of C. atrox, or other untested factors. Museum vouchers of both the hosts and the helminths recovered herein are available for verification, additional analyses or in-depth species reevaluations.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1645\/24-85","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T10:03:40Z","timestamp":1777975420000},"page":"250-260","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Museum Specimens of Western Diamond-Backed Rattlesnakes (Viperidae: Crotalus atrox) Reveal Trends in Body Size, Diet, and Endoparasites over the Last 75 Years"],"prefix":"10.1645","volume":"112","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6811-7422","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Irvin","family":"Arroyo-Torres","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Museum of Southwestern Biology, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sara V.","family":"Brant","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Museum of Southwestern Biology, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"J. Tomasz","family":"Giermakowski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Museum of Southwestern Biology, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Samantha","family":"Armijo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Museum of Southwestern Biology, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lisa N.","family":"Barrow","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Museum of Southwestern Biology, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1220","reference":[{"key":"63","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"H. Yang, M. Wu, W. 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Griffith, J. M. Omernik, D. W. Smith, et al.  \"U.S. Geological Survey.\"  \"Ecoregions of California.\" 2 (2016)","DOI":"10.3133\/ofr20161021"},{"key":"28","unstructured":"G. Hartwich,  \"CIH Keys to the Nematode Parasites of Vertebrates, Vol.\"  2, \"Keys to genera of the Acaridoidea.\" 1 (1974)"},{"key":"29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"I. Howard, E. Davis, G. Lippert, et al.  \"Journal of Applied Ecology.\"  56, \"Abundance of an economically important nematode parasite increased in Puget Sound between 1930 and 2016: Evidence from museum specimens confirms historical data.\" 190 (2019)","DOI":"10.1111\/1365-2664.13264"},{"key":"30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"A. K. Kohli, A. L. Lindauer, L. A. 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Goodman, et al.  \"Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.\"  136, \"Fixation and preservation contribute to distortion in vertebrate museum specimens: a 10-year study with the lizard Anolis sagrei.\" 443 (2022)","DOI":"10.1093\/biolinnean\/blac040"},{"key":"35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"K. R. Matthews, R. A. Knapp, K. L. Pope,  \"Journal of Herpetology.\"  36, \"Garter snake distributions in high-elevation aquatic ecosystems: Is there a link with declining amphibian populations and nonnative trout introductions?\" 16 (2002)","DOI":"10.1670\/0022-1511(2002)036[0016:GSDIHE]2.0.CO;2"},{"key":"36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"C. T. Mcallister  and C. R. 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Thornton, R. Feldman, et al.  \"Global Change Biology.\"  19, \"Predicting shifts in parasite distribution with climate change: A multitrophic level approach.\" 2645 (2013)","DOI":"10.1111\/gcb.12255"},{"key":"42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"G. R. Pisani  and B. R. Stephenson  \"Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science.\"  94, \"Food habits in Oklahoma Crotalus atrox in fall and early spring.\" 137 (1991)","DOI":"10.2307\/3627861"},{"key":"43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"L. Polley, E. Hoberg, S. Kutz,  \"Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica.\"  52, \"Climate change, parasites and shifting boundaries.\" S1 (2010)","DOI":"10.1186\/1751-0147-52-S1-S1"},{"key":"45","unstructured":"\"PRISM Gridded Climate Data.\"  (2023)"},{"key":"49","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"G. A. Schad,  \"Canadian Journal of Zoology.\"  40, \"Studies on the genus Kalicephalus (Nematoda: Diaphanocephalidae): II. A taxonomic revision of the genus Kalicephalus Molin, 1861.\" 1035 (1962)","DOI":"10.1139\/z62-090"},{"key":"51","unstructured":"K. I. Skrjabin  and A. A. Spasskii  \"Essentials of Cestodology.\"  1, 782 (1951)"},{"key":"52","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"F. A. Smith, H. Browning, U. L. Shepherd,  \"Ecography.\"  21, \"The influence of climate change on the body mass of woodrats Neotoma in an arid region of New Mexico, USA.\" 140 (1998)","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1600-0587.1998.tb00668.x"},{"key":"53","unstructured":"C. L. Spencer,  \"Geographic variation in the morphology, diet and reproduction of a widespread pitviper, the western diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox).\"  177 (2003)"},{"key":"54","unstructured":"B. R. Stephenson  and G. R. Pisani  \"Herpetological Review.\"  22, \"Notes on early spring parasites and pathologies of Oklahoma Crotalus atrox.\" 88 (1991)"},{"key":"56","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"E. N. Taylor  and D. F. 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Kinsella  \"Journal of Visualized Experiments.\"  82, \"Helminth collection and identification from wildlife.\" e51000 (2013)","DOI":"10.3791\/51000"},{"key":"55","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"K. Strzepek, G. Yohe, J. Neumann, et al.  \"Environmental Research Letters.\"  5, \"Characterizing changes in drought risk for the United States from climate change.\" 044012 (2010)","DOI":"10.1088\/1748-9326\/5\/4\/044012"},{"key":"48","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"S. Ruane  and C. C. Austin  \"Molecular Ecology Resources.\"  17, \"Phylogenomics using formalin-fixed and 100+ year-old intractable natural history specimens.\" 1003 (2017)","DOI":"10.1111\/1755-0998.12655"},{"key":"37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"D. J. McCauley, F. Keesing, T. P. Young, et al.  \"Ecology.\"  87, \"Indirect effects of large herbivores on snakes in an African savanna.\" 2657 (2006)","DOI":"10.1890\/0012-9658(2006)87[2657:IEOLHO]2.0.CO;2"},{"key":"1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"M. Amarello, E. M. Nowak, E. N. Taylor, et al.  \"Journal of Arid Environments.\"  74, \"Potential environmental influences on variation in body size and sexual size dimorphism among Arizona populations of the western diamond-backed rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox).\" 1443 (2010)","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jaridenv.2010.05.019"},{"key":"8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"R. A. Beavers,  \"Southwestern Naturalist.\"  20, \"Food habits of the western diamondback rattlesnake, Crotalus atrox, in Texas (Viperidae).\" 503 (1976)","DOI":"10.2307\/3669867"},{"key":"2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"S. R. Archer  and K. I. Predick  \"Rangelands.\"  30, \"Climate change and ecosystems of the Southwestern United States.\" 23 (2008)","DOI":"10.2111\/1551-501X(2008)30[23:CCAEOT]2.0.CO;2"},{"key":"62","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"E. A. Widmer  and O. W. Olsen  \"Journal of Parasitology.\"  53, \"The life history of Oochoristica osheroffi Meggitt, 1934 (Cyclophyllidea: Anoplocephalidae).\" 343 (1967)","DOI":"10.2307\/3276585"},{"key":"46","unstructured":"\"R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing.\"  (2023)"}],"container-title":["Journal of Parasitology"],"original-title":[],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,5]],"date-time":"2026-10-05T20:58:46Z","timestamp":1791233926000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/bioone.org\/journals\/journal-of-parasitology\/volume-112\/issue-3\/24-85\/Museum-Specimens-of-Western-Diamond-Backed-Rattlesnakes-Viperidae--Crotalus\/10.1645\/24-85.full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]]},"references-count":63,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1645\/24-85","relation":{},"ISSN":["0022-3395","1937-2345"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0022-3395","type":"print"},{"value":"1937-2345","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]]}}}